UK GOVERNMENT MUST RECONSIDER REGRESSIVE TAX HIKE
Labour hiked employers’ national insurance contributions as part of its first budget in a move which Ms Adamson warned will be passed on to lower income workers and hit crucial community organisations.
The MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw noted warnings from the British Medical Association that some GP surgeries would have to close if they are not exempted from the national insurance rise.
Scotland has 911 GP surgeries nationwide, and 51 in North Lanarkshire, who all perform a vital role in front line health care – helping to look after and keep our communities healthy.
Meanwhile, Ms Adamson said that the tax hike will hit the already-stretched finances of crucial charities and social enterprises doing important work in the Motherwell and Wishaw community.
Later today, Ms Adamson will speak in a Holyrood debate on the UK Government’s hike to employers’ national insurance.
She said:
“The UK government’s hike to employer national insurance contributions is calamitous for public and third sector organisations. This is not a progressive tax measure; it is a ham-fisted attempt to avoid breaking a manifesto promise on a technicality. And it will hurt critical community organisations.
“Labour said they would not raise taxes on working people but the choice they have made to hike employers’ national insurance contributions will be passed on to the lowest income workers and have a damaging impact on the finances of charities, social enterprises, care providers, GPs, and hospices.
“Potential Living is a Scottish Charity created by parents and carers in Motherwell in 1982 and providing care to people with Additional Support Needs in the Motherwell, Wishaw and Bellshill areas.
“They are just one of a litany of charities and social enterprises who have warned of the devastating impact this Labour tax hike will have on their work.
“Whether it’s the Tories or Labour, having fiscal and economic policy imposed upon you by a distant UK Government is unfair and unsustainable.
“As MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, I am urging the UK government to exclude charities, GP surgeries, social care providers and hospices from this tax rise.
“Vital community services are not an acceptable target. Labour needs to go back to the drawing board and think where its values have gone.”
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